Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
European Fund for Agricultural Rural Develop-
ment (Fondo Europeo Agricolo per lo Sviluppo
Rurale, or FEASR), is the fi nancial arm of the
European Union's budget for agricultural sup-
port. Included among the original directives is
a “rationalization” of agricultural vineyards
that provides fi nancial incentives for farmers to
change to more modern, cost-effective, higher-
yielding vineyards. As a consequence, old vines
are ripped up and new plantings made all over
Italy (if you hear something, that's me crying).
Though it means well, CAP promotes a large
increase in agricultural production that is not
always quality-oriented.
passes Regulation 1493, which requires each
member country to compile a list of the grape
varieties from which wines for commercial sale
may be made. Among other things, it decrees
that only vines of the
Vitis
species and of cross-
ings of
Vitis
species, may be used to make wine.
Unfortunately, this legislation also specifi es
that all those vineyards planted with varieties
not
included in the offi cial lists are to be
uprooted, except in those cases where the wine
is used for home consumption.
2006:
ITALIAN
LAW
DEFINES
NATIVE
GRAPES
Law 82,
of February 20, 2006, defi nes a native grape as
one that “is original to a zone or was introduced
there at least fi fty years ago and is traditionally
integrated with the agriculture of that area.”
The fi fty-year specifi cation to defi ne a cultivar
as “native” is a joke, something only politicians
could have concocted. The law is an obvious
attempt to please potential voters by allowing
them to use the word “native,” which currently
helps sell wine, to describe their wines.
1960 -1970:
BIRTH
OF
VQPRD
,
DOC
,
DOCG
,
AND
OTHER
LEGISLATION
These laws, based on France's
famous Appellation d'Origine Controlée (AOC),
determine which wines can be made with which
varieties. Though meant to help make better
wines, these regulations also greatly damage
Italy's native grape varieties because farmers
abandon varieties that are no longer permitted.
LATE
1960-
EARLY
1970
S
:
CRISIS
OF
THE
MEZZADRIA
AND
RURAL
EXODUS
The disappearance of crop
sharing, or
mezzadria,
helps propel Italian wine
into the realm of quality wine production. In the
mezzadria
system, farmers had been allowed to
keep a percentage of what they grew; they had no
reason to limit yields, a key for quality wine pro-
duction, since they were interested in producing
as much as possible. However, the rural exodus
that ensues with the end of
mezzadria,
as people
went looking for bank or offi ce jobs, means vine-
yards are abandoned. Many local varieties
already reduced in number no longer have any-
one caring for them, and become extinct.
EXTINCT AND FORGOTTEN VARIETIES:
MAKING A COMEBACK?
Though it's true that university and research
institutions are leading the way with genetics
and fi eld testing, oftentimes such testing has
been spurred on by single wine estates. Pas-
sionate estate owners in Italy have always
replanted and nurtured vines of rare varieties
that they felt were capable of yielding good
wines. Convinced the results were worth pur-
suing, many looked for help from universities
to determine if such grapevines were in fact
“new” varieties, or instead, old varieties that
had long been consigned to the scrap heap.
In Calabria, the Librandi estate has long
paid attention to local varieties (and the fund-
ing of appropriate research): thanks to them,
Magliocco Dolce is no longer a forgotten blend-
ing grape. In Friuli, though many estates owned
a few rows of Schioppettino vines, nobody ever
bottled it on its own, until the Rapuzzi family of
the Ronchi di Cialla estate chose to devote itself
1960 -1980:
INTENSIFICATION
OF
CLONAL
SELECTION
The breeding of clones from carefully but mis-
guidedly selected plants, designed for high
yields and concomitant poor wine quality,
causes diminished genetic biodiversity.
1999:
THE
EUROPEAN
UNION
REGULATES
ITS
WINE
MARKET
On May 17, 1999, the European Union
